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A Lesson in Betrayal, Part Five
Team Titan Think Tank.' Issue 12- "A Lesson in Betrayal" (Part Five.)' Front cover- Yu stands, bo staff at the ready, as duplicates of him stand all around, having stepped out of mirror, their own bo staves at the ready, surrounding him in a circle, as he does his Power Ranger pose The issue opens with GAMES MASTER; like all the team, Games Master has just witnessed mirrors rise up out of the walls and ceiling, cutting him off from the rest of his team, leaving him looking at his own reflections in mirrors, where the team once was, and behind him. In front of him is a long corridor, lined with mirrors, which at the end splits in three directions. Like all the team, he has seen his reflection run off down the corridor and disappear. The Games Master seems to meditate for a moment. "It's time I used a few tricks I've learnt from the Thievious Racoonus," he recites from the video game Sly Cooper with a smirk on his face. "SHADOW POWER!" A puff of grey smoke engulfs him and suddenly his body disappears. A panel shows no one standing in the corridor. Another shows his vision as he sneaks on down the corridor and takes the left. The comic cuts to Cain, as his corridor of mirrors leads to the Rumble Room doors. He listens for a moment, then gives a quiet "... hm." He straightens his tie, and walks calmly to the exit. The Obs Room doors swish open as Cain walks in. Battling Briton sits there still, watching the team on the monitors, eating some of Top's popcorn. On the screen, all of the team are shown from above, as the mirrors segment them so they can't see each other, but BB can. BB looks over as the doors open "Briton." Cain says affably, with a polite nod to BB, swishing into a seat and taking it close to the monitors in a few fluid, planned motions We cut to Reb. The same three branches of corridor are presented to him, like GM. Rob stands with him. Reb rubs his chin. "Light reflections do not act like this. There is no known physical way to accomplish this outside of all of it being illusions, so Rob, we follow the clue we have." Rob spins his head and arms round. "AFRRIMATIVE." "Lets catch ourselves my reflection!" Reb declares. He heads off down the left corridor and Rob's feet are shown to have tank-like treads as he rolls after Reb. They run down the long stretch of corridor, getting to the part where it splits into three. Reb's hair is ruffled by an invisible hand "Reb, hey Reb!" The Games Masters' voice bubble points to near Reb's right ear "Yeah, Mr Master?" "So, what's your plan?" The voice moves over to the left. "You know, for getting out of here?" "Erm, well I think we need to regroup with everyone and work as a team, thats all i got. Need more info... sorry Mr Masters." "Any idea which way we should go? Mr Master?" There's quiet for some moments. Then loud deliberate footsteps return to Reb. "Your plan sounds like a good plan Reb," although he can't see him, the reader can see a transparent GM and he is smiling. "Let's find the others, let's go left down this corridor." "Yes Mr Master! Lets roll, Rob." "AFFIRMATIVE!" The three move off down the corridor, where they encounter another Reb at another intersection, and he is talking to Mister Tops. "Mister Tops!" he says "Ah, Reb, there you..." He sees the other Reb. "...Oh. Well, this is a dilly of a pickle." The comic cuts to Yu, running down a corridor; he suddenly slows as he sees Mister Tops, alone, slowly, cautiously walking his way along a corridor towards Yu. Yu steps closer to Mr. Tops, holding his bo across his chest, his eyes instinctively glancing about. "Mr. Tops. Have you seen any of the others yet?" "I am afraid not, dear chap. I was chasing my reflection but um... the mirrors coming down made me turn. When I turned back, he'd gone... no idea which way the blighter went, I'm afraid." "Hmm. As was I. We should continue together, and try and find the others." Yu glances over his shoulder, giving the mirrors a stern, suspicious glare. "I do believe teamwork was the point, dear boy. Lead on." "Mhmm." Yu starts to walk past Mr. Tops, peering intently at him as something occurs to him. "Had an idea, Yu?" Yu walks past Mr. Tops, shaking his head. "No, just confirming something." And with that, he suddenly leaps back towards Mr. Tops, spinning to face him in middair and swinging his staff around in a lightning-fast strike. Tops raises hand to block the staff as the ruse succeeds, and the other end sweeps down at a leg. CRACK. The staff whips against it and Yu stands back, twirling it. Tops seems unharmed "You treacherous SWINE!" Tops roars We cut to Sonne. "Er... kriff. HELLO? GUYS?" There is no response. "... Can we do a simulation that isn't a metaphor for something? Honestly?" Sonne speaks to the ceiling, before shrugging and pacing forwards, dead ahead. As he goes down the central corridor he comes across the back of... himself, marching in the same direction. "... Hi?" Sonne turns to look at Sonne. "Oh, hi! Cool armour, gotta say." "Thanks. I made it yourself. Listen, I'm going to hate me for this, but it's nothing personal." "Oh yeah, go ahead. You're probably the only guy that could take you anyway!" "Damn right." With an amused smirk, Sonne sends out a fist to his Doppleganger and projects a nimbus of energy around him, lifting him off the ground and holding him in place. "So what gives? Did Dad clone me before he went to tangle with Blitzy? And don't get all existential on me, I know I'm me." "Would you believe me if I said I was your long-lost twin?" he shrugs "Not in any of the known black holes. Mum's lucky, remember?" We cut to Tonic. Again, the same situation of the coridor and tis branches is shown. Tonic looks down the corridor…then suddenly jumps as something catches her eye. Spinning slowly, she turns to face the mirrors themselves…and starts shaking, walking slowly towards the nearest one, raising her hand until it touches the mirror and rests palm to palm against its own reflection. In the mirror, tears can be seen rolling down her cheeks, left hand covering her mouth. “T…this…this is…how? I n…never…I…I don’t…I shouldn’t…” her fingers trace up to the reflection of her own face. Tonic tries to back away, but, too focused on the mirror, her coordination fails. She stumbles, landing on her rear on the floor, still staring in shocked fascination. “…Scientifically…this…I…how?” As we cut back to the Sonnes "Yeah, Mum's lucky... which is why I'm just one of septulets!" He then raises both palms, and fires out a larger, concentrated beam at Sonne. Sonne kicks in the newly fitted retros at his calves and hops into the air, jumping over the beam as its projected to him while focusing his hand on the Doppleganger. The grin can only be described as shit-eating as he lands back on his feet. "They all as bad as you?" "I take it you mean bad, as in good, like most kids nowadays?" his grin is identical We cut to Yu, as he runs down a corridor, alone. There are the screams of "GET HERE, YOU TREACHEROUS LITTLE SCUMBAG!" behind him, as he runs. He stops. Turns. There is an empty corridor behind him. He runs back and Mister Tops is getting ready to swing a punch at him. The comic then zooms out, to show Yu, looking at Yu, about to have Mister Tops punch his head in. The furthest Yu stops, and reflects, squinting in thought. Yu charges in, flourishing his bo staff. "Tops! That's a fake! Strike! Strike!" "Magic to my bloody HORNS!" Tops roars. Tops suddenly pulls back his fist, as the Yu he faces has brought the staff to block it, as Yu's staff whacks across the other Yu's legs, knocking him into Top's horns as they crash down into his face. We cut to Reb, talking to the other Mister Tops. "How do I know its you?" says Tops "You're first name is Arnold" Reb says "He might have said that too" sayss Tops, pointing, as Reb turns to see Reb and Rob. The real Reb gives the other a small wave. Rob's head spins round in shock. "Oh, gee! Its the other me. And he's got a Rob. Better even the game!" Another Rob forms in front of the false Reb. "Aww sweet Rob, dude!" says the real Reb. "Rob, target the false duplicates!" "AFFIRMATIVE", say both Robs. The false Rob's chest opens up, showing the mass of cannons as he fires. Reb drops to the floor almost and Rob dismantles into small sections and flies apart. "ACCURACY, MISJUDGED", the other Rob intones "I so wasn't ready for that, what you playing at me...if you an evil clone you should have the good manners to have like a scar over the eye or a moustache!" Rob's blocks return and converge back into a whole Rob, slotting and locking into place. We then cut to Cain, as he walks down mirrored corridors and then comes across the two Sonnes. Cain catches his breath briefly, having power-walked to the location. "What in *blazes*... you there! Put down the Gunn!" "Cool your jets, Cain. I'm me." "Don't listen to him Cain, he's a fake... wait, you should know that, this is your xarted program!" "Right, Fakegunn. If you were to humourously refer to Cain as an inanimate item, what would you call him?" says the furthest Sonne. "Handbag, definitely." As Gunn asks this, Cain shudders in the background. "Kriffing..." At the response, Cain is stood tall again, with a small amount of lightning crackling around him "I never say kriffing. You made that up" says the entrapped Sonne. "Cain, have I, in your presence, EVER said kriffing? He is using made-up words!" "I did not make it up! You can't trust this guy, Cain. He's barely as handsome as I am." "I am -not- that egotistical, and you know it. We're equally likely to be Mr Earth 2007!" "Hah! See, Cain? You KNOW I barely spend any time on Earth. I'd barely sent off the information pack about Mr Earth 2007! Look, if I'm the fake, would I do this?" "Cos you've got me out of the way and paralysed, thats why!" "I can't help it if Cain didn't factor in how great I am into his simulation and made an inferior, if dashingly handsome, copy of me. He wasn't to know, and Cain, I forgive you for it." We cut to behind Cain, where yellow stegasaurus spines have sprung from his back, the lightning around him pale flickers of the bolts being stored in the spines. "You both make such *compelling* arguments..." "I'm glad you agree." We then cut to Tonic, frantically running her way through the corridors, a panicked look on her face, as she comes to see Rob shooting at... Rob, and Reb, the other Reb with Tops behind him, just distant. The reader can also see the invisible GM. Reb is in between the other Reb and Tops, and Tonic, with GM and Rob at his side "...F...fake....p...pretending to b...be a ch...child...C...Cain, that's l...low, m...making a fake of a k.....kid.." As she gestures at the Reb being shot at. "S...stay the til...til the others g...get here..." "HEYYYY!" Reb yells. Her eyes narrowing in concentration, a six inch thick band of steel forms around Reb, binding his arms to his sides. "Thanks Miss Toni!" yells the other Reb as he looks to Tops. "See, told you he was the bad one!" She smiles, slightly nervously and gives Reb a thumbs up. Tops nods. "I see. Better make sure he doesn't cause us any trouble then." He walks over to Reb. "Sorry, fake-lad. You were very convincing." Reb looks up at Mr Tops, very scared at where this all going. Tears form in his eyes at the words fake-lad "...Y...you w...were almost c...convincing...b...but..." Tops wraps his knuckles on Reb's head, as Reb closes his eyes and tears fall out a patch of shimmering light falls between his head and the knuckles, the patch slightly bigger, as the knuckles bash against the light, leaving Reb unharmed. "... Thats new", Tops exclaims. Reb opens his left eye a mixture of tears and confusion. End of issue.